USC Upstate appoints Fowler as interim athletic director

Lee Fowler hasn't been actively pursuing athletic director openings since leaving N.C. State three years ago, he said. This one just sort of happened.

By TODD SHANESY todd.shanesy@shj.com

Lee Fowler hasn't been actively pursuing athletic director openings since leaving N.C. State three years ago, he said. This one just sort of happened.Fowler, director of basketball operations for the Sun Belt Conference, has agreed to become interim AD at USC Upstate effective May 20. He will take over, at least temporarily, for Mike Hall, who left a month ago to become commissioner of the NAIA Southern States Athletic Conference.“I'm very excited and I think this is a good fit for me,” Fowler said. “… I've only been on campus once and I don't know all the facts and figures, all that sort of thing about the university yet. But I'm very encouraged about some of the things going on there. I'm looking forward to it.”While there is a possibility that the 61-year-old will stay on in a permanent role, there is no hint of that at this point.“That's not the way we're going into it,” said Fowler, who owns a home in Asheville, N.C. “I told (USC Upstate Chancellor Tom Moore) that I'd be glad to come in and try to help out. I don't think we've closed a door on my staying on, but we're looking at five or six months at this point, through September, for sure, through October, probably. I'm hoping to be able to get in there and see what needs to be done.”Fowler, who stepped down from N.C. State in June 2010 amid pressure from the chancellor there, is still earning a $280,000 annual salary from the school through September. He was a finalist recently for the athletic director position at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The job went April 26 to David Blackburn, who was a longtime senior associate AD at Tennessee.“As far as the Chattanooga thing, I was invited by a friend of mine to get involved, so I interviewed,” Fowler said. “I didn't know much about it. I haven't been openly looking for those situations. There was interest for about a week or two and then it was over. It was not something I was pursuing.”Fowler made some increasingly unpopular coaching hires at N.C. State, such as Sidney Lowe with the men's basketball team. Struggles in that sport and also football (four straight losing seasons) ultimately led to Fowler's departure. But he was instrumental in $120 million in facilities improvements while keeping the budget balanced.“I am pleased that Lee Fowler has accepted USC Upstate's offer to serve as interim athletic director,” Moore said. “Lee brings a wealth of experience at several institutions in different conferences and he has a particular knowledge of the NCAA and men's basketball.”Fowler was associate athletic director at Memphis from 1986-94. He left that position to become athletic director at Middle Tennessee State, where he stayed until leaving for N.C. State in 2000. He played basketball at Vanderbilt, served as an assistant coach there and also at what was then called Memphis State.